Alia, Ajay to make Telugu debut with 'RRR'

Hyderabad, March 14 : Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli on Thursday announced that popular Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn have been signed for his upcoming multi-lingual magnum opus "RRR", which stars Ram Charan and Jr. NTR in the lead.

Rajamouli said that "RRR", which is being made on a lavish scale, will be a fictional story based on two real-life heroes and freedom fighters - Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem.

"This is a fictional story set in 1920s pre-independent era. Most of us are well aware of the stories of Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem. We know they are popular freedom fighters and were fearless. What most of us don't know is that there are gaps in the lives of these revolutionaries that we don't know about. We don't know what happened in their lives in these years," Rajamouli said.

"'RRR' will be a fictional story of what could have happened in the lives of Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem in those years when they had disappeared. What if they had met and trained themselves to fight for the same cause," he said.

While Jr. NTR, otherwise known as Tarak, will be seen as Komaram Bheem, Ram Charan will be playing Alluri Seetharama Raju.

"I'm glad both Tarak and Charan agreed to be part of this project. Even if one of them said no, I wouldn't have taken up this subject. Charan will play young Alluri Seetharama Raju and Tarak as young Komaram Bheem," Rajamouli said.

Talking about roping in Alia and Ajay, Rajamouli said he needed talented actors from other industries as this is a pan-Indian film.

"We are thrilled to have Alia and Ajay on board. Both of them were really excited to be part of this project. When I wanted to approach Ajay, I sent him a text and he immediately made time to meet. After he heard the story idea, he immediately adjusted his dates to give me time," he said.

Rajamouli ran into Alia at an airport and that's where he shared the idea.

"The moment I told Alia that I have this subject and we would like to work with her, she immediately gave her nod. She was willing to take up any part as long as she gets to be part of this project. She has been paired with Charan in the film," he added.

Alia tweeted: "Today I feel truly truly grateful.. Cannot wait to begin this beautiful journey with this stellar cast and massive team... Thank you Rajamouli sir for giving me this opportunity to be directed by you."

International actress Daisy Edgar Jones has been paired with Tarak.

Producer DVV Danayya confirmed the film will hit the screens worldwide on July 30, 2020 in ten Indian languages. Rajamouli said the film will have "RRR" as the common title across languages.

"The common title across languages will be 'RRR' as it's extremely popular among audiences and we didn't feel like changing. However, the title will have expansion in each language which we plan to announce later. We are welcoming audiences to come up with suggestions for title expansion in each language," Rajamouli said.